Background: Spatial skills and mathematical ability have been repeatedly identified as critical for achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Previous studies have identified correlations between spatial skills and mathematical achievement; however, questions remain regarding improvements in non-spatial areas…

The 2018 Michigan Public High School Context and Performance Report Card is the fourth edition in a series of analyses designed to measure high school performance. The first report was published in 2012 (ED541512) and was followed by analyses in 2014 (ED560065) and 2016 (ED588530). This report is a school-level assessment of academic performance…

This publication marks the fourth edition of the Context and Performance (CAP) Report Card for Michigan elementary and middle schools, published every two years since 2013. The goal is to compare Michigan schools' relative performance by factoring in the role student poverty plays in affecting academic achievement. The CAP Report Card uses…

Differential item/test functioning (DIF/DTF) are routine procedures to detect item/test unfairness as an explanation for group performance difference. However, unequal sample sizes and small sample sizes have an impact on the statistical power of the DIF/DTF detection procedures. Furthermore, DIF/DTF cannot be used for two test forms without…

Spatial-Temporal Math (ST Math) is game-based, instructional software for K-12 students created by the MIND Research Institute (MIND). ST Math is integrated into classroom instruction, but can also be used in a computer lab or at home. The ST Math software games begin without language and symbol abstractions by posing math programs as purely…

This report represents the third in a series designed to measure the academic performance of Michigan elementary and middle schools, and the first of the series to use results from the M-STEP assessment. Similar report cards were published in 2013 (ED560064) and 2015 (ED568656), based on different but overlapping years of scores on the defunct…

The 2016 Michigan Public High School Context and Performance Report Card is the third edition in a series of analyses designed to measure high school performance. The first report was published in 2012 (ED541512) and was followed by a 2014 analysis (ED560065). This report is a school-level assessment of academic performance based on a four-year…

The aim of this study is to run a longitudinal, ten year experimental study studying the effects of preschool attendance on long-term academic performance throughout elementary school. This study will sample 500 students from the Kalamazoo, Michigan community and observe their standardized test scores as well as their behavioral and social…

Early childhood trauma increases the risk of academic difficulties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of early contact with child protection services (CPS) and to determine whether early exposure to maltreatment investigations was associated with important academic outcomes. The authors focused specifically on…

This study examined the effects of the Success for All (SFA) whole-school reform approach on student reading achievement. The data were collected for the Study of Instructional Improvement by the University of Michigan, which did not previously report the achievement outcomes in detail but did make the data available online. Using propensity…

What is the relationship between school spending and student achievement in Michigan? That is the question this paper attempts to answer. The bulk of the research on this question has typically shown that there is little correlation between spending and achievement, but it is possible that Michigan's public schools are an exception to this…

The Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development were created as a joint effort between the Institute of Education Science and the National Science Foundation in an effort to streamline education research and contribute to an accumulation of knowledge that will lead to improved student outcomes. One type of research that emerged in the…

This is the Mackinac Center's fourth school report card and covers elementary and middle schools. A similar report card was published in 2013, and this edition includes two years' worth of new data. A unique characteristic of this report card is that takes into consideration the "context" of a school when assessing its performance.…

This action research study, supported by a quantitative data analysis, presents a counternarrative to the deficit discourse regarding Latino/a First Time in Any College (FTIAC) departure during the first year of college. It argues that an intentional learning community model, that is culturally and linguistically responsive to Latino/a student…

This paper considers the determinants of student participation in Michigan's large inter-district open enrollment system, known as Schools of Choice (SoC). Employing a rich dataset from the Michigan Department of Education, we examine the population of public school students in resident and non-resident school districts between the 2005-06 and…